Categories
Meetups Tampa Bay

Don’t miss Techapalooza, happening this Thursday at SOFWERX!

This Thursday at SOFWERX, join Tampa Bay’s top techies, executives, and investors at Techpalooza! You’ll get the opportunity to…

  • Find out what’s going on in the Tampa Bay tech scene, hear about the latest trends and innovations, and maybe even hear about some job opportunities
  • See the Techapalooza Expo, which will showcase the hottest connectors and accelerators here in “The Other Bay Area”
  • Enjoy mouthwatering food and refreshing drinks
  • Groove to the sounds put out by DJ Diwrection

As a bonus, if you’re among the first 100 people to register for this FREE event, you’ll receive two FREE drink tickets!

Techaplooza happens this Thursday, November 2nd from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. at SOFWERX (1925 E 2nd Avenue, in the south end of Ybor City). Register here!

Categories
Current Events Good Causes Tampa Bay

Cyber Ohana Project’s 3rd Annual Luau Gala (Saturday, November 11th)

Want to have an elegant evening out, connect with fellow cybersecurity professionals, and support a good cause? Then you’ll want to go to the Cyber Ohana Project’s 3rd Annual Luau Gala, which takes place on Veteran’s Day — Saturday, November 11th — at the Duke Energy Center for the Arts – Mahaffey Theater!

What will happen at the Luau Gala?

The Mahaffey is right by the water in St. Pete, and it’s one of my favorite spots to visit when I’m there. It’s also a great setting for a gala evening out!

Here’s the agenda for the evening:

TimeWhat’s happening
6:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.Cocktails (silent auction opens)
7:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.Opening remarks and buffet opens
8:00 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.Luau dancers show
8:30 p.m. – 9:30 p.m.Silent auction, DJ, and dancing
9:30 p.m.Silent auction closes
10:00 p.m.Event ends
(but nothing’s stopping you from checking out some of the great places on Beach Avenue!)

Who’s behind the Luau Gala?

The word Ohana roughly translates from Hawaiian as “family,” but it extends beyond blood relations — think of it as meaning a familial bond between people who aren’t necessarily related, but support each other, or “family” in the way it gets used in the Fast and Furious movies (especially the later ones).

https://cyberohanaproject.org/The Cyber Ohana Project is organizing the gala. Founded and run by Wilson Bautista, Jr., its mission is to help military people and their spouses make the transition to civilian life and apply their leadership and technical skills in the cybersecurity field.

You can find out more about the good causes that proceeds from the gala will go to in the Cyber Ohana Project Gala 2023 message video:

Find out more

Once again, the Cyber Ohana Project’s 3rd Annual Luau Gala takes place on the evening of Saturday, November 11th at the Duke Energy Center for the Arts – Mahaffey Theater!

Categories
Current Events Meetups Tampa Bay

Tampa Bay tech, entrepreneur, and nerd events list (Week of Monday, October 30, 2023)

Tampa Bay tech, entrepreneur, and nerd events - Oct. 30 - Nov. 5, 2023

Here’s the “official unofficial” list of tech, entrepreneur, and nerd events for Tampa Bay and surrounding areas for the week of Monday, October 30 through Sunday, November 5, 2023.

Banner ad: CIVO, the cloud native service provider. Blazing fast Kubernetes cluster launch times in under 90s. Simplify development and reduce infrastructure costs. From just $5 a month, with $250 free credit to get started.
Civo doesn’t just throw amazing conferences here in Tampa Bay,
they’re also a great, developer-friendly cloud-native service provider!
Find out more.

This week’s events

Monday, October 30

Grammerhub - Mondays 6:30 p.m.

Grammerhub meets online Mondays at 6:30. It’s a tech community for Junior Developers pursuing their first coding job, those leveling up their skills for mid-level positions, or those just starting in programming and looking for a career switch. Find out more and register here.

Event name and localeGroupTime
Indie Japanese Films at Home
Tampa Japanese Meetup1:00AM – Monday, Oct. 30
VIRTUAL – Hispanic Business Network – English
Hispanic Business Network7:45AM – Monday, Oct. 30
Weekly Photo Project – Technical: Magic ND Filter
Eric Leuthardt Photography Club – Miami8:00AM – Monday, Oct. 30
In person at Fords Garage St Pete

Saint Petersburg, FL
Young Professionals Networking JOIN in and Connect!11:00AM – Monday, Oct. 30
Networking at Ford’s Garage

Largo, FL
Tampa Bay Networking and Events11:00AM – Monday, Oct. 30
Downtown St Pete Business Professionals Lunch
Tampa / St Pete Business Connections11:00AM – Monday, Oct. 30
Networking at Cafe’ Delanie

Largo, FL
Tampa Bay Networking and Events11:30AM – Monday, Oct. 30
Start the Week with more connections MONDAYS at Romi’s Tacos All Welcome!

Saint Petersburg, FL
Young Professionals Networking JOIN in and Connect!11:30AM – Monday, Oct. 30
Business Networking Meeting

Largo, FL
Christian Professionals Network Tampa Bay11:30AM – Monday, Oct. 30
Monday Business Introductions at Romi’s Taco’s
Tampa Bay Business Networking Meetings & Mixers11:30AM – Monday, Oct. 30
In PERSON Networking Lunch East Brandon Reserve your seat
Professional Business Networking with RGAnetwork.net11:30AM – Monday, Oct. 30
REAL Toastmasters Club District 47
District 47 Toastmasters Clubs Meetings12:00PM – Monday, Oct. 30
Weekly Open Coworking & Pomodoro Workspints with Her Power Space
Monday Open Coworking & Worksprints with Her Power Space12:30PM – Monday, Oct. 30
Global Webinar — Unlock over $500K Monthly Sales with LinkedIn: A Proven Roadmap

Tampa, FL
Tampa Startup Founder 1011:00PM – Monday, Oct. 30
Capitalismo Solidario
Capitalismo Solidario: El Negocio Del Siglo 215:00PM – Monday, Oct. 30
Speakeasy Toastmasters #4698

Saint Petersburg, FL
Toastmasters District 486:00PM – Monday, Oct. 30
Daytona Beach Toastmasters Club #1134
Toastmasters Division I6:00PM – Monday, Oct. 30
Monday Feast & Game Night
Tampa Bay Tabletoppers6:00PM – Monday, Oct. 30
MTG: Commander Night
Critical Hit Games6:00PM – Monday, Oct. 30
Monday Weekly Board Game Night! (Lazy Moon Colonial Location)
Board Game Meetup: Board Game Boxcar6:00PM – Monday, Oct. 30
Board Game Night at Persimmon Hollow Flamingo Crossings
Brews N Board Games6:00PM – Monday, Oct. 30
Intro to the Babylock Embroidery Machine (Members Only)

Tampa, FL
Tampa Hackerspace6:30PM – Monday, Oct. 30
North Port Toastmasters Meets Online!!

Saint Petersburg, FL
Toastmasters District 486:30PM – Monday, Oct. 30
Grammerhub | Weekly Tech Meetup | DEVs / Designers / PMs
Grammerhub – Hands-On Software Development6:30PM – Monday, Oct. 30
Bitcoin White Paper Day
Orlando Bitcoiners6:30PM – Monday, Oct. 30
We Can Speak-Podemos Hablar Toastmasters Club
Toastmasters Division H6:30PM – Monday, Oct. 30
Singles 31+ Indoor Volleyball – LDS & Friends
Single Adult 31+ Volleyball – LDS & Friends6:30PM – Monday, Oct. 30
813 Live! – Intro to Webapp Pentesting: Practical

Tampa, FL
Defcon8137:00PM – Monday, Oct. 30
Stirling Toastmasters Club #7461614

Saint Petersburg, FL
Toastmasters District 487:00PM – Monday, Oct. 30
The PATh to Hours
Daytona Devs7:00PM – Monday, Oct. 30
Wood Shop
Melbourne Makerspace (Florida USA)7:00PM – Monday, Oct. 30
Basic Fundamentals for Product Owners & Product Managers
GROWTH-BY-REFERRALS Business Networking Group7:00PM – Monday, Oct. 30
Board Game Night at Armada Games
Tampa Bay Gaming: RPG’s, Board Games & more!7:00PM – Monday, Oct. 30
Members as far back as 2008 can access their photos
School is closed- Light Study PRO – A Photography Workshop7:00PM – Monday, Oct. 30
Community Wood Shop @ Melbourne Makerspace
Space Coast Woodworkers Guild7:00PM – Monday, Oct. 30
Horror Friends Movie Night – The Changeling!!!
Horror Fan Fun Time Gang7:00PM – Monday, Oct. 30
Online Event: Shut Up & Write!® Your Life Story (on Zoom)
Shut Up & Write!® St. Petersburg7:00PM – Monday, Oct. 30
Feedback & Critique (Online)
The Writer Workshop with Gregory A. Kompes7:00PM – Monday, Oct. 30
DigiMondays
Sunshine Games7:30PM – Monday, Oct. 30
Texas Hold’em Online Non Monetary Game
Texas Hold’em –7:30PM – Monday, Oct. 30
Weekly Meetup

Windermere, FL
Beginning Web Development8:00PM – Monday, Oct. 30
Where is Bitcoin Going?
Bitcoiners of Southwest Florida9:00PM – Monday, Oct. 30
♣️♦️ 1/2 no limit Texas hold em ♠️❤️ ACTION!! 💲💲
Poker with friends online group9:25PM – Monday, Oct. 30
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Tuesday, October 31

Computer Coach: Networking — Don’t let it haunt you!

Join Computer Coach online at 10 a.m. on Tuesday — that’s Halloween — to find out why networking isn’t as scary as you might think! If you’re looking for work or to expand your horizons, be sure to catch this online session. Find out more and register here.

Tampa Bay Agile banner

At noon, Tampa Bay Agile will have an online session titled “Navigating Team Conflict: Don’t Go Too Deep Too Soon.” It will feature a model and principles for identifying the most useful places to start addressing conflicts. Find out more and register here.

How to use AI for marketing — with Joe Apfelbaum - Tuesday, October 31st, 1 p.m. EDT.

At 1 p.m., join Joe Apfelbaum for an online session on how to use AI for marketing. This will cover 9 key marketing uses for AI: Brainstorming, Research, Strategy, Summarizing, Content, Scripts, Emails, Social Media, and Creativity. Find out more and register here.

Event name and localeGroupTime
Rise Up & Write!… An Early Riser’s Writing Session
Write It Now! – An Inspirational Writer’s Meetup Group5:00AM – Tuesday, Oct. 31
Venice Area Toastmasters Club #5486

Saint Petersburg, FL
Toastmasters District 487:30AM – Tuesday, Oct. 31
Networking: Don’t Let it Haunt You

Tampa, FL
Tech Success Network10:00AM – Tuesday, Oct. 31
Networking: Don’t Let it Haunt You

Tampa, FL
Front End Creatives10:00AM – Tuesday, Oct. 31
Networking: Don’t Let it Haunt You

Tampa, FL
Career Success Academy10:00AM – Tuesday, Oct. 31
Networking: Don’t Let it Haunt You

Tampa, FL
Tampa Cybersecurity Training10:00AM – Tuesday, Oct. 31
Tuesday Westchase Business Networking Lunch at Grand Hacienda

Largo, FL
Business Professionals of Pinellas, Pasco & Hillsborough11:00AM – Tuesday, Oct. 31
Westchase Professional Business Networking Lunch ~ All Welcome

Saint Petersburg, FL
Young Professionals Networking JOIN in and Connect!11:00AM – Tuesday, Oct. 31
Networking at SeaGlass Tavern~ All Welcome, join us!!!

Largo, FL
Tampa Bay Networking and Events11:00AM – Tuesday, Oct. 31
Westchase Business Networking Lunch ~ All Welcome JOIN us and connect!
Tampa / St Pete Business Connections11:00AM – Tuesday, Oct. 31
Westchase Networking Lunch -Grand Hacienda~ Meet your next referral
Tampa Bay Business Networking Meetings & Mixers11:00AM – Tuesday, Oct. 31
New Tampa Networking Lunch at Glory Day’s Grill New Tampa

Wesley Chapel, FL
Wesley Chapel, Trinity, New Tampa, Business Professionals11:30AM – Tuesday, Oct. 31
Networking at Glory Days Grill

Largo, FL
Tampa Bay Networking and Events11:30AM – Tuesday, Oct. 31
Networking at Italian Touch, St. Pete

Largo, FL
Tampa Bay Networking and Events11:30AM – Tuesday, Oct. 31
Professional Business Networking Lunch Glory Day’s New Tampa

Wesley Chapel, FL
Pasco County Young Entrepreneurs/Business Owners All Welcome11:30AM – Tuesday, Oct. 31
New Tampa RGA Chapter ~ Glory Days Meet your next referral partner!
Professional Business Networking with RGAnetwork.net11:30AM – Tuesday, Oct. 31
Navigating Team Conflict: Don’t Go Too Deep Too Soon

Tampa, FL
Tampa Bay Agile12:00PM – Tuesday, Oct. 31
Turn Rejection Into Connection with 4 Critical Communication Tools

Tampa, FL
Tampa Entrepreneurs Network12:00PM – Tuesday, Oct. 31
Toastmasters at Twelve
Toastmasters Divisions C & D12:00PM – Tuesday, Oct. 31
How to Use AI for Marketing

Tampa, FL
Network After Work Tampa – Networking Events1:00PM – Tuesday, Oct. 31
The Fail-Proof Method for Launching Your Online Course in Less Than a Day

Tampa, FL
Network After Work Tampa – Networking Events1:00PM – Tuesday, Oct. 31
How to Use AI for Marketing
Network After Work – Jacksonville Networking Events1:00PM – Tuesday, Oct. 31
Weekly Open Make Night

Tampa, FL
Tampa Hackerspace6:00PM – Tuesday, Oct. 31
The Basics of UX UI Design
Ironhack Jacksonville – Tech Careers, Learning and Network6:00PM – Tuesday, Oct. 31
Magic: The Gathering Night at Felicitous
Tampa Bay Gaming: RPG’s, Board Games & more!6:00PM – Tuesday, Oct. 31
Hobby Night
Critical Hit Games6:00PM – Tuesday, Oct. 31
Daytona Area Fiction Writers
Daytona Area Fiction Writers6:00PM – Tuesday, Oct. 31
Game Night!
Partners in Crime ⭐ Millennial Friends of Space Coast6:30PM – Tuesday, Oct. 31
Weekly Group Meetings – All Writers Welcome!
Pinellas Writers6:30PM – Tuesday, Oct. 31
The Sarasota Creative Writers
The Sarasota Creative Writers Meetup Group6:30PM – Tuesday, Oct. 31
Toast of Celebration Toastmasters
Toastmasters Division E6:45PM – Tuesday, Oct. 31
Computers & Programming
Melbourne Makerspace (Florida USA)7:00PM – Tuesday, Oct. 31
Tuesday Open House
Gainesville Hackerspace7:00PM – Tuesday, Oct. 31
Yu-Gi-Oh Evening Tournament
Sunshine Games7:00PM – Tuesday, Oct. 31
Magic: The Gathering Night at Felicitous
Tampa Game Nights7:00PM – Tuesday, Oct. 31
St. Pete Beers ‘n Board Games Meetup for Young Adults
St. Pete Beers ‘n Board Games for Young Adults7:00PM – Tuesday, Oct. 31
Trivia Night – Moose Lodge 2117 Smartphone Trivia Game Show
Tampa – Sarasota – Venice Trivia & Quiz Meetup7:00PM – Tuesday, Oct. 31
AMA – Ask Me Anything Related to Photography, Computers and Software
Florida Center for Creative Photography7:00PM – Tuesday, Oct. 31
Adult Trunk or Treat
Geekocracy!7:30PM – Tuesday, Oct. 31
Let’s play chess at 54th Ave Kava House!
TB Chess – Tampa Bay – St. Petersburg Chess Meetup Group7:30PM – Tuesday, Oct. 31
Online Event: Shut Up & Write on Zoom
Shut Up & Write!® Tampa7:45PM – Tuesday, Oct. 31
Trading Tuesday
Bitcoiners of Southwest Florida8:00PM – Tuesday, Oct. 31
♣️♦️ 1/2 no limit Texas hold em ♠️❤️ ACTION!! 💲💲
Poker with friends online group9:25PM – Tuesday, Oct. 31
Return to the top of the list

Wednesday, November 1

How to silence your inner critic

Kick off NaNoWriMo at the Prose Society Writers’ Group event, “How to Kill Your Inner Critic!” Find out more and register here.

Event name and localeGroupTime
St Pete Networking Breakfast at the Hangar Meet St Pete’s Top Pro’s All Weclcome

Saint Petersburg, FL
Young Professionals Networking JOIN in and Connect!7:30AM – Wednesday, Nov. 1
Networking at The Hanger Restaurant & Flight Lounge!

Largo, FL
Tampa Bay Networking and Events7:30AM – Wednesday, Nov. 1
Referral Networking Meeting Orlando Area
Networking 4 Profit7:30AM – Wednesday, Nov. 1
Tampa Highrisers Toastmasters

Saint Petersburg, FL
Toastmasters District 487:45AM – Wednesday, Nov. 1
Leveraging Large Language Models for Learning Health Systems

Tampa, FL
Data, Cloud and AI in Tampa8:00AM – Wednesday, Nov. 1
1 Million Cups – Orlando Weekly Meetup
1 Million Cups – Orlando8:30AM – Wednesday, Nov. 1
How to Build a Powerful Sales Team

Tampa, FL
Tampa Bay Professionals (IT, Sales, HR & more)9:00AM – Wednesday, Nov. 1
Promote: GenAI Hackathon at Embarc Collective

Tampa, FL
Tampa Bay AWS User Group9:00AM – Wednesday, Nov. 1
Carrollwood Networking Lunch! Join us and win!

Tampa, FL
Tampa Bay Networking Meetings and Mixers11:30AM – Wednesday, Nov. 1
Networking at Glory Days Grill!

Largo, FL
Tampa Bay Networking and Events11:30AM – Wednesday, Nov. 1
Brandon Business Professionals IN Person!!!!

Tampa, FL
Tampa / St Pete Business Connections11:30AM – Wednesday, Nov. 1
Brandon Business Professionals Just Love Coffee

Saint Petersburg, FL
Young Professionals Networking JOIN in and Connect!11:30AM – Wednesday, Nov. 1
Networking at Just Love Coffee!

Largo, FL
Tampa Bay Networking and Events11:30AM – Wednesday, Nov. 1
HYBRID EVENT: Business Ethics 2023 – Class for November
Orlando Stoics11:30AM – Wednesday, Nov. 1
Midjourney Prompt Help & Advanced FAQ with A.I. Creative Compass!

Tampa, FL
Midjourney A.I. Art Meetup Group12:00PM – Wednesday, Nov. 1
Global Webinar — Pitch Lounge: Practice Pitching Your Business Idea to Experts

Tampa, FL
Tampa Startup Founder 1011:00PM – Wednesday, Nov. 1
Bay pines toastmaster’s hybrid meeting

Saint Petersburg, FL
Bay Pines Toastmasters5:15PM – Wednesday, Nov. 1
Wednesday Board Game Night
Tampa Gaming Guild5:30PM – Wednesday, Nov. 1
Agile Coaching Capabilities
Agile International Coaching6:00PM – Wednesday, Nov. 1
Dinner with the President – Zoom event
Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at FIU6:00PM – Wednesday, Nov. 1
Monthly Meeting: How to Kill Your Inner Critic (& the NaNoWriMo Kick Off Event)
Prose Society Writers’ Group6:00PM – Wednesday, Nov. 1
Advance Resin 3D Printing

Largo, FL
Makerspaces Pinellas Meetup Group6:30PM – Wednesday, Nov. 1
Blockchain Investors and Enthusiasts Club

Saint Petersburg, FL
Blockchain and Crypto Investors and Enthusiasts6:30PM – Wednesday, Nov. 1
Game Night!
Drunk’n Meeples the Social Tabletop (Board) Gamers6:30PM – Wednesday, Nov. 1
Maximize Amazon ROI: Master SKU Scoring with Gilad Warter

Tampa, FL
Tampa Bay Amazon Sellers E-commerce Meetup7:00PM – Wednesday, Nov. 1
Carrollwood Toastmasters Meetings meet In-Person and Online

Saint Petersburg, FL
Toastmasters District 487:00PM – Wednesday, Nov. 1
[Virtual] Tampa Bay Bitcoin Meetup: News, Markets, & Community

Tampa, FL
Tampa Bay Bitcoin7:00PM – Wednesday, Nov. 1
Castaways Euchre Club-NEW LOCATION!
Castaways Euchre Club7:00PM – Wednesday, Nov. 1
The Coworker Frieda McFadden
Chan’s Book Club of Tampa Bay7:00PM – Wednesday, Nov. 1
Horror Friends Movie Night – Terrifier 2!!!
Horror Fan Fun Time Gang7:00PM – Wednesday, Nov. 1
Return to the top of the list
Banner ad: CIVO, the cloud native service provider. Blazing fast Kubernetes cluster launch times in under 90s. Simplify development and reduce infrastructure costs. From just $5 a month, with $250 free credit to get started.
Civo doesn’t just throw amazing conferences here in Tampa Bay,
they’re also a great, developer-friendly cloud-native service provider!
Find out more.

Thursday, November 2

TECHAPALOOZA - November 2nd - 6 - 9 p.m.. Sponsored by No LImit Technology, BayFirst and Computer Coach.

Thursday evening presents a chance to connect with our local tech scene at Techapalooza, November’s first big tech networking event! There’ll be an expo with Tampa Bay’s hottest connectors and accelerators, food and drink, and the first 100 registered attendees get two free drink tickets. Find out more and register here.

The Neon Temple are hosting lightning talks at 7 p.m. on Thursday. Contact them for details!

Event name and localeGroupTime
Business Over Breakfast ~ Happy Hangar IN PERSON JOIN US!

Wesley Chapel, FL
Wesley Chapel, Trinity, New Tampa, Business Professionals7:30AM – Thursday, Nov. 2
Happy Hangar Early Bird Professionals Networking

Wesley Chapel, FL
Pasco County Young Entrepreneurs/Business Owners All Welcome7:30AM – Thursday, Nov. 2
LUTZ, FL – HAPPY HANGER CAFE THURSDAY NETWORKING

Largo, FL
Tampa Bay Networking and Events8:00AM – Thursday, Nov. 2
Professional Alliance – Local Networking Meeting
Professional Alliance – Local Networking Group8:00AM – Thursday, Nov. 2
Clearwater Professional Networking Lunch

Largo, FL
Business Professionals of Pinellas, Pasco & Hillsborough11:00AM – Thursday, Nov. 2
Pinellas County’s Largest Networking Lunch and your invited!

Largo, FL
Tampa Bay Networking and Events11:00AM – Thursday, Nov. 2
The Founders Meeting where it all Began! JOIN us! Bring a guest and get a gift

Saint Petersburg, FL
Young Professionals Networking JOIN in and Connect!11:00AM – Thursday, Nov. 2
Clearwater/Central Pinellas Networking Lunch JOIN us and connect your business
Tampa / St Pete Business Connections11:00AM – Thursday, Nov. 2
Wesley Chapel Professional Networking Lunch

Wesley Chapel, FL
Wesley Chapel, Trinity, New Tampa, Business Professionals11:30AM – Thursday, Nov. 2
Lutz / Wesley Chapel Professional Networking Lunch at Bahama Breeze!

Wesley Chapel, FL
Pasco County Young Entrepreneurs/Business Owners All Welcome11:30AM – Thursday, Nov. 2
Breakroom Bar & Grill 11:28 Doors open at 11:00am IN Person

Tampa, FL
Professional Business Networking with RGAnetwork.net11:30AM – Thursday, Nov. 2
Sarasota Speakers Exchange Toastmasters

Saint Petersburg, FL
Toastmasters District 4812:00PM – Thursday, Nov. 2
Agora, a Hyperledger Lab, and How Its Cryptography Can Benefit You

Tampa, FL
Hyperledger Tampa12:00PM – Thursday, Nov. 2
Commander Open Play Night at Armada Games

Tampa, FL
Tampa Bay Gaming: RPG’s, Board Games & more!1:00PM – Thursday, Nov. 2
Leveraging Large Language Models for Learning Health Systems

Tampa, FL
Data, Cloud and AI in Tampa3:30PM – Thursday, Nov. 2
Strategies for leveling up your business
Strategies for leveling up your business3:30PM – Thursday, Nov. 2
TECHAPALOOZA

Tampa, FL
Tech Success Network6:00PM – Thursday, Nov. 2
TECHAPALOOZA

Tampa, FL
Tampa Bay Artificial Intelligence Meetup6:00PM – Thursday, Nov. 2
TECHAPALOOZA

Tampa, FL
Career Success Academy6:00PM – Thursday, Nov. 2
Business Happy Hour ~ Cafe Delanie 1st Thursday Every Month 6pm to 8pm

Saint Petersburg, FL
Young Professionals Networking JOIN in and Connect!6:00PM – Thursday, Nov. 2
After Hours Mixer Romi’s Tacos! All Welcome $10 cash

Tampa, FL
Tampa Bay Networking Meetings and Mixers6:00PM – Thursday, Nov. 2
1st Thursday Networking Mixer, Romi’s Tacos & RGANetwork.net $10 cash at door

Largo, FL
Tampa Bay Networking and Events6:00PM – Thursday, Nov. 2
TECHAPALOOZA

Tampa, FL
Tampa Cybersecurity Training6:00PM – Thursday, Nov. 2
Techapalooza

Tampa, FL
Tampa Bay Bitcoin6:00PM – Thursday, Nov. 2
TECHAPALOOZA
Front End Creatives6:00PM – Thursday, Nov. 2
TECHAPALOOZA
Tampa Bay Techies6:00PM – Thursday, Nov. 2
Tampa Nerd Con 2 – The Big Lebowski
Brandon and Seffner area AD&D and OSR Group6:30PM – Thursday, Nov. 2
TERRIFIER 2 (Re-Release)
Orlando Horror Movie Fans 20s-30s6:30PM – Thursday, Nov. 2
Lightning TalksThe Neon Temple7:00PM – Thursday, Nov. 2
Tampa Bay Drupal & Web Technologies Q&A. Everyone welcome!

Tampa, FL
Tampa Bay Drupal User Group7:00PM – Thursday, Nov. 2
Shopbot Safety and Usage (Members Only)

Tampa, FL
Tampa Hackerspace7:00PM – Thursday, Nov. 2
Live streaming production and talent

Tarpon Springs, FL
Live streaming production and talent7:00PM – Thursday, Nov. 2
BABOK IIBA Tampa Bay Study Group

Tampa, FL
IIBA Tampa Bay7:00PM – Thursday, Nov. 2
Palm Harbor Toastmasters Club #8248

Saint Petersburg, FL
Toastmasters District 487:00PM – Thursday, Nov. 2
November – Dead Men Don’t Decorate
Books & Brews!7:00PM – Thursday, Nov. 2
Sip & share at Kava Culture

Tampa, FL
Tampa Speculative Fiction Writers Meetup Group7:45PM – Thursday, Nov. 2
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Friday, November 3

Tampa Nerd Con takes place Friday, Saturday, and Sunday! Find out more and register here.

Event name and localeGroupTime
Volunteer at the Disney Wine & Dine Half Marathon
Orlando Volunteers!2:00AM – Friday, Nov. 3
Focused conversation for documentarians
Write the Docs Florida8:30AM – Friday, Nov. 3
Wargaming at Tampa Nerd Con
Tampa Bay Wargaming Society9:00AM – Friday, Nov. 3
MTG at Tampa Nerd Con
Magic the Gathering Tampa/Brandon/St Pete9:00AM – Friday, Nov. 3
Toastmasters – Improve Speaking Skills & Build Confidence

Largo, FL
Christian Professionals Network Tampa Bay9:30AM – Friday, Nov. 3
First Friday WordPress Collaboration Meetup – November 2023
West Orlando WordPress Meetup10:00AM – Friday, Nov. 3
International Networking at McAlisters Deli every Friday

Largo, FL
Business Professionals of Pinellas, Pasco & Hillsborough11:30AM – Friday, Nov. 3
Friday Business Introductions Tampa

Tampa, FL
Tampa Bay Networking Meetings and Mixers11:30AM – Friday, Nov. 3
Westshore Business Networking Lunch at McAlisters Deli Every Friday All Welcome

Largo, FL
Tampa Bay Networking and Events11:30AM – Friday, Nov. 3
International Professionals Networking Meeting
Tampa / St Pete Business Connections11:30AM – Friday, Nov. 3
First Friday Networking Mixer
Helping Entrepreneurs Live Prosperously7:00PM – Friday, Nov. 3
Social in the covered Beer Garden of c.1949

Tampa, FL
► Tampa Bay Young Professionals Group7:30PM – Friday, Nov. 3
Weekly Meetup

Plant City, FL
Plant City Web Development Group8:00PM – Friday, Nov. 3
Tampa Nerd Con 2
Brandon and Seffner area AD&D and OSR Group9:00PM – Friday, Nov. 3
Return to the top of the list

Saturday, November 4

Event name and localeGroupTime
Maximize Black Friday, Cyber Monday, & Xmas Sales (Winter is Here)

Tampa, FL
Tampa Amazon Seller Meetup Group1:00AM – Saturday, Nov. 4
1 Lane Left Open 4 Nov.! ..Archery 4 Adults&Teens Sats @ Largo’s Southwest Rec.!

Clearwater, FL
Random Fun Stuff I Want To Do On a Short Notice Club9:00AM – Saturday, Nov. 4
Prison of the Hated Pretender
Brandon and Seffner area AD&D and OSR Group9:00AM – Saturday, Nov. 4
FCCP – Adobe Lightroom Classic CC 4 Part Class – Part 2
Florida Center for Creative Photography9:00AM – Saturday, Nov. 4
Florida Professional Photographers FALL MODEL SHOOTOUT
Learn Photography with FPP9:00AM – Saturday, Nov. 4
🌐 SAT 11/4 at 10 AM ONLINE PHOTOGRAPHY CRITIQUE PROGRAM

Tampa, FL
The Art Of Photography – Tampa/St. Pete Chapter10:00AM – Saturday, Nov. 4
Benefits of Living in a Higher Frequency

Tampa, FL
Tampa Startup Businesses Meetup Group for Foreign Students10:00AM – Saturday, Nov. 4
🌐 SAT 11/4 at 10 AM ONLINE PHOTOGRAPHY CRITIQUE PROGRAM
The Art Of Photography International10:00AM – Saturday, Nov. 4
Submission Saturday
We Write Here Black and Women of Color Writing Group10:00AM – Saturday, Nov. 4
Global Leaders Advanced Toastmasters Club
Toastmasters Divisions A & F10:30AM – Saturday, Nov. 4
Potluck & Play
Space Coast Adventurer’s Guild11:00AM – Saturday, Nov. 4
Midjourney Basics: Intro & FAQ with A.I. Creative Compass!

Tampa, FL
Midjourney A.I. Art Meetup Group12:00PM – Saturday, Nov. 4
Pen & Palms Premiere

Tampa, FL
Tampa Writers Club2:00PM – Saturday, Nov. 4
Radiant Citadel Adventures
Orlando Adventurer’s Guild2:00PM – Saturday, Nov. 4
Demo Day and Game Day: First Saturday of Every Month
Indienomicon2:00PM – Saturday, Nov. 4
Crows: Encounters with the Wise Guys of the Avian World
Tampa Bay Book Club2:00PM – Saturday, Nov. 4
Happy Hour at Luv Child!
► Tampa Bay Young Professionals Group5:00PM – Saturday, Nov. 4
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Sunday, November 5

Event name and localeGroupTime
Tomb of the Serpent Kings
Brandon and Seffner area AD&D and OSR Group9:00AM – Sunday, Nov. 5
Veterans Memorial Park
Suncoast Drone Club9:00AM – Sunday, Nov. 5
🌐 SUN 11/5 at 10 AM ONLINE PHOTOGRAPHY CRITIQUE PROGRAM

Tampa, FL
The Art Of Photography – Tampa/St. Pete Chapter10:00AM – Sunday, Nov. 5
🌐 SUN 11/5 at 10 AM ONLINE PHOTOGRAPHY CRITIQUE PROGRAM
The Art Of Photography International10:00AM – Sunday, Nov. 5
Plotter CriCut vinyl cutting

Largo, FL
Makerspaces Pinellas Meetup Group12:00PM – Sunday, Nov. 5
Game Day at Potion Portal (St. Pete)
Geekocracy!1:00PM – Sunday, Nov. 5
T-Shirts and Caps printing

Largo, FL
Makerspaces Pinellas Meetup Group2:00PM – Sunday, Nov. 5
Keys From the Golden Vault (tier 2, lvl 7 preferred)
Orlando Adventurer’s Guild2:00PM – Sunday, Nov. 5
Return to the top of the list
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About this list

How do I put this list together? It’s largely automated. I have a collection of Python scripts in a Jupyter Notebook that scrapes Meetup and Eventbrite for events in categories that I consider to be “tech,” “entrepreneur,” and “nerd.” The result is a checklist that I review. I make judgment calls and uncheck any items that I don’t think fit on this list.

In addition to events that my scripts find, I also manually add events when their organizers contact me with their details.

What goes into this list? I prefer to cast a wide net, so the list includes events that would be of interest to techies, nerds, and entrepreneurs. It includes (but isn’t limited to) events that fall under any of these categories:

  • Programming, DevOps, systems administration, and testing
  • Tech project management / agile processes
  • Video, board, and role-playing games
  • Book, philosophy, and discussion clubs
  • Tech, business, and entrepreneur networking events
  • Toastmasters and other events related to improving your presentation and public speaking skills, because nerds really need to up their presentation game
  • Sci-fi, fantasy, and other genre fandoms
  • Self-improvement, especially of the sort that appeals to techies
  • Anything I deem geeky
Categories
Conferences Programming Tampa Bay What I’m Up To

“Prototype SPOOK-TACULAR FRANKEN-APPS with BRAINS!” – This Saturday at Tampa Code Camp

Tampa Code Camp, a day full of presentations and workshops for coders, is happening THIS SATURDAY at Keiser University — and better still, it’s FREE to attend! In fact, they even provide a free lunch, because you can’t learn or code on an empty stomach.

This year’s Tampa Code Camp has a Halloween theme, and so does my presentation, Prototype Spook-tacular “FrankenApps” with BRAAAAINS (AI)!!!

Here’s the abstract for my presentation, which will take place from 2:00 to 3:00 p.m.:

Modern AI is scary-smart, and as an aspiring mad computer scientist, you’ve probably wondered how you can write applications that harness the power of AI for your own purposes. Step into this lab, put your laptop on the slab, and learn how to take a brain (an artificial one) from a nearby graveyard (actually, from an API) and put it into your own applications!

In this hands-on session, you’ll learn how to quickly prototype “FrankenApps” — apps built from bits and pieces you can find lying about the internet — and take them to the next spooky level with…BRAINS! Or, more accurately, OpenAI’s APIs, which you’ll harness to get that ChatGPT goodness into your own applications.

You’ll learn about a mad computer scientist’s favorite tools — Jupyter Notebook and Python — and use them to quickly prototype AI-powered applications, such as a weather app that recites spooky poems about the current forecast, or a Halloween costume generator. Catch this session, learn something new, and have some Halloween fun, too!

Join me and the rest of Tampa Code Camp this Saturday at Keiser University for a day of learning, coding, camaraderie, and fun! The event runs from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m..

Register here — and remember, it’s FREE!

Categories
Conferences Security Tampa Bay What I’m Up To

Scenes from CyberX Tampa Bay 2023 (Tuesday, October 24, 2023)

Last year’s CyberX Tampa Bay event was a big hit, and it was only natural that there’d be another one this year. Like the first one, this year’s event was packed.

The moment I walked into the venue, I saw so many people and had so many conversations that I never got the chance to take pictures until the start of the “welcome” session in the large room:

A packed main room at CyberX Tampa Bay, with every seat full and lots of people standing.

Suzanne Ricci, Computer Coach’s CEO and one of the event co-organizers, welcomed the gathered throng to CyberX…

Suzanne Ricci at the front of the main room at CyberX Tampa Bay, delivering an opening speech.

…after which we had the choice of two breakout sessions:

  1. Chronicles of an Entry-level Cybersecurity Professional
  2. The Wheel of Misfortune
Banner for CyberX Tampa Bay 2023’s “Wheel of Misfortune,” featuring headshots of Jason Allen and Jonas Kelley.

I went to the Wheel of Misfortune, where audience members got the chance to answer cybersecurity questions for Google swag. Anyone in the audience could volunteer to come up to the front, spin the wheel of topics and answer a question based on that topic.

A contestant spins the multi-colored Wheel of Misfortune and Jason Allen and Jonas Kelley look on.

Hosts Jason Allen and Jonas Kelley were pretty relaxed about audience assistance. At one point, I yelled out the acronym for remebering the 7 layers of the OSI network model — “Please Do Not Take Sausage Pizza Away!” — and no one was penalized.

The front of the “Wheel of Misfortune” room. Every seat is taken.

The room, where every seat and available spot to stand was occupied, was lively, with people enjoying themselves. The audience participation, aided by two engaging hosts, kept the room lively until the very end.

The back of the “Wheel of Misfortune” room. Every seat is taken, and people at teh back are standing.

It was then time to recognize CyberX Tampa Bay’s 2023 honoree — someone nominated by attendees as being the person who made the biggest positive impact on Tampa Bay’s cybersecurity scene. This year’s honoree was Jeremy Rasmussen!

A packed main room watching Jeremy Rasmussen being honored.

And to close the evening, there was the keynote panel on cybersecurity myths. It featured…

Banner for the 2023 CyberX Tampa Bay keynote panelists, featuring headshots of Courtney Jackson, Mark Keller, Ryan WIlliams, Joey de Villa, Ebony Pierce, and Bryson Bort.
The keynote panel: Courtney Jackson, Mark Keller, Ryan WIlliams, Joey de Villa, Ebony Pierce, and Bryson Bort.
Photo by Kasandra Perez. Tap to view at full size.

(pictured above, from left to right…)

  1. Courtney Jackson
  2. Mark Keller
  3. Ryan Williams
  4. Yours Truly, Joey de Villa
  5. Ebony Pierce
  6. Bryson Bort
The keynote panel, viewed from the side: Courtney Jackson, Mark Keller, Ryan WIlliams, Joey de Villa, Ebony Pierce, and Bryson Bort.

We covered these myths:

  • Mark: “Cybersecurity is an IT problem.”
  • Ryan: “You don’t have transferable skills.”
  • Me: “Compliance and security are the same thing,” complete with a reference to this scene from the original Jackass movie.
  • Ebony: “Cybersecurity threats are only an external issue.”
  • Mark: “Macs are more secure than PCs.”
  • Ryan: “We passed the compliance assessment so we can rest on our laurels.”
  • Me: “I’m too small to be a target,” with a story about (ahem) borrowing cable from the bar next door.
  • Ebony: “Cybersecurity threats require careful planning and really smart people.”
  • Bryson: “Security Awareness training works.”
Banner featuring the 2023 CyberX Tampa Bay organizers: Ashley Putnam, Kasandra Perez, Courtney Jackson, and Suzanne Ricci.

This amazing event wouldn’t have been possible without the organizers…

…or without the sponsors:

Categories
Conferences Tampa Bay What I’m Up To

Scenes from GDG DevFest Tampa Bay (Saturday, October 21, 2023)

I attended Google Developer Groups’ DevFest Tampa Bay event this past weekend, which took place in USF’s Engineering building and featured a healthy number of students in attendance.

The “Fireside with CEOs” chat featured…

…and they shared their leadership experiences, both good and bad. I bounced between their session and this one:

This was ArtemisNet’s session on creating a USB Rubber Ducky, a favorite toy from the hacker’s bag of tricks. It looks like an ordinary USB flash drive, but when plugged in, it sends keystroke signals to the victim’s computer, which thinks it’s an ordinary keyboard. Typically, an attacker would pre-program it to type commands to perform all sorts of security-breaching actions, such as collecting sensitive files or security information and then exfiltrating it for later analysis.

(If you thought you’d seen something like this on a TV show before, you probably did; there was one in Mr. Robot.)

Of course, you need some kind of small processing device to build a Rubber Ducky, and ArtemisNet provided them, free of charge — a Raspberry Pi Pico! Here’s mine:

Afterwards, I bounced over to the other room to see Liz Myers’ “Coffee, Code, and Tensorflow” session…

…and also caught bits of the Flutter and hackathon sessions.

And finally, my employer, Okta, was one of the event sponsors. As their representative here in “The Other Bay Area”, I’m working on getting them to sponsor more local events. Watch this space!

Categories
Business Meetups Tampa Bay Users What I’m Up To

Scenes from the Tampa Bay UX Meetup (Thursday, October 19, 2023)

It was a packed house at Computer Coach last Thursday when the Tampa Bay User Experience meetup group gathered for Phil Doughty’s presentation, The ROI of UX.

Here’s the abstract for the event:

Are you trying to start or build a UX practice in your organization? Have you run into a brick wall when trying to get support? Are you constantly trying to “sell” UX to your executive team? Nothing speaks louder than being able to show a return on investment (ROI). In this edition from our UX Fundamentals series, Phil Doughty will show us how we can put UX into terms that make sense to the C-suite; dollars and cents.

For about an hour, Phil, a Customer Success Manager at UserTesting, led the group through his presentation showing how to speak the language of stakeholders in order to convince them of the necessity and value of UX in software and services. He was assisted by his coworker Christian Knebel (also a Customer Success Manager), who teleconferenced in from Dallas.

In the end, Phil argues, you have to account for stakeholder needs. When talking to the C-suite, that often boils down to dollars and cents. You need to convince them that good UX either…

  • Increases the money you make, or
  • Decreases the money you spend.

Phil spent a fair bit of time on Google’s HEART framework. It’s a powerful tool tailored for UX teams, empowering them to prioritize and enhance distinct facets of the user experience, while also enabling the establishment of clear objectives and user experience metrics to measure their achievements.

HEART, as the acronym suggests, is made up of five key elements, each representing a different aspect of user experience measurement:

  1. Happiness: This element gauges user satisfaction and overall happiness with the product or service. It often involves surveys or feedback mechanisms to assess user sentiment.
  2. Engagement: Engagement measures how actively users interact with the product. It can involve tracking metrics like the number of visits, time spent, or specific user actions within the application.
  3. Adoption: This aspect focuses on user acquisition and the rate at which new users are embracing the product. It assesses how effectively the product is attracting and onboarding new users.
  4. Retention: The rate at which users continue to use the product over time. It helps assess whether the product is successful in retaining its user base and preventing churn.
  5. Task Success: A measure of how efficiently users can complete specific tasks within the product. You can measure this by tracking success rates, error rates, or task completion times to identify usability issues.

HEART’s five elements collectively provide a comprehensive framework for evaluating and improving the user experience of a digital product or service. You can apply them to a single feature in your software or service — or ideally, to the whole thing.

If there was one slide that everyone should have taken a picture of, it’s the one above — Metrics vs. KPIs. This makes it clear:

  • A metric is a qualitative measurement of how your product, service, and experience, and specific initiatives are performing.
  • A KPI — short for key performance indicator — is a kind of metric that measures critical, organization-wide business outcomes that reflect that oragnization’s goals and vision, typically from a financial perspective.

For example, an ecommerce site’s conversion rate — the percentage of website visitors who take a specific action, such as making a purchase — would be a metric, but it wouldn’t be a KPI.

However, that site’s monthly revenue growth — the increase in revenue from one month to the next — is a metric that also qualifies as a KPI. It’s a KPI because it reflects the site’s core business objective: to increase revenue over time.

Typically, a free meetup will get half the people who registered to actually show up, but this one was different — we had a packed room, and it appeared that at least two thirds of the registrants were there! It looks like the result of interesting presentations and an involved, active tech scene.

The Tampa Bay User Experience group has these upcoming events: